Disclaimer: Again…FF: TSW characters…not mine. X-COM…not mine.
Author's Note: Poor Jane, she wakes up with an Excedrin-sized humdinger of a headache.
Getting the Ball RollingAs soon as her eyes opened, Jane realized that she was back in her own quarters. How did I get here? She only vaguely recalled stripping off her armor before checking into the infirmary, but must have done so because she was now wearing her sweat pants and t-shirt. She sat up and immediately regretted it because her head felt as if someone were going at it with a jackhammer and her gut roiled. She eased an arm over the side to grope for the covers; knowing her habit of kicking in her sleep they were probably somewhere on the floor. She snagged them, tossed them back up beside her and then sat there on the edge of her bed in the dark, fighting her nausea. She won the battle and glanced at the dim rectangle of her window, then at the nightstand clock. Whafuck? It was going on twenty-one hundred…that was, what, some four hours since they had returned from the Arizona desert? Her memories of the events following the UFO's self-destruction–exhaustedly boarding the Copperhead, the flight back to base–were spotty at best. Damn, can I even remember any of it? She fumbled at the band that secured her ponytail, impatiently tugging it off then pressed a hand against her brow and focused her thoughts…thinking of how her own body had turned traitor when the alien had attacked, seizing her mind and forcing her to act against her will. Resistance against its psionic powers had proven futile. She was trapped within herself, seeing, hearing, feeling…but not in control, and loss of control was not an option for her. Jane could do nothing but helplessly rage within the round bone prison of her skull as she stood over Ryan, her finger tightening on the trigger, hearing Neil's entreaties but unable to comply. How long it had lasted she hadn't a clue before the malevolent presence had suddenly vanished. What replaced it was a sickening feeling of violation that had made her seethe. She supposed she had Harper to thank now, even though from the time X-COM had arrived, she had noticed Eri damn near slavering over Neil as if he were a piece of meat. And more than once. Think you can steal Neil from me, eh? Then she caught herself…she had never really thought of him that way. Yeah, he could be a sweetheart but at the same time he was that pebble caught in your shoe, or that sesame seed trapped between your tooth and gum. Am I thinking of him as my boyfriend now? My God, I have well and truly lost my mind now. And yet…
Just then there was a rap on her door. It repeated itself and as Jane recognized it she rolled her eyes in irritation…only one person she knew thought that his "shave-and-a-haircut" knock was anywhere near cute. "Hold on a minute, will you?" she muttered and turned the nightstand lamp on low. She padded across to the door and cracked it open, wincing against the bright hallway outside.
"Hiya, Jane. How are you feeling?" Neil chirped and gave her a sunny grin. "Um, would it be too much to ask to open the door just a wee bit more?"
She turned her back on him and went to sit on the bed again. "Do it yourself. Care to tell me why you're here? And it better be good." Neil ambled in, conveniently forgetting that the door had a faulty return mechanism and, as a result, tended to slam. It did just that and Jane grit her teeth
"Sure. Aki and Dr. Sid contacted both captains, said that they're onto something important. Major Schaeffer wanted everyone to report to the research facility, but I managed to convince her that you needed your beauty sleep–but I promised to look in on you on the way down to the lab. Proof that the urbane Fleming charm works on ladies young and old, wouldn't you say?" He was nauseatingly cheery and Jane eyed the distance between them; had she felt any better she could have gladly put him in a chokehold on the spot. As it was she folded her legs beneath her, Indian style and leaned back against the wall, trying to ignore the vicious headache that refused to go away. "Well, I'm glad for you. Now fill me in on the details."
Neil pulled up a chair and plopped down. It took a real effort for him to look at her; the vision of those terrifying black eyes still remained, and the memory was still frighteningly vivid. Nonetheless he spoke. "When we landed, you got an express ride to medical to get checked out. You, uh…you weren't quite yourself." He scratched his chin nervously and his brow creased in concern. "You were delirious, rambling on about some weird stuff. Me and Ryan were really worried–the head medic said that he'd seen some people handle shock that way, and so they gave you a sedative. Captain Broderick was grateful that there were no casualties and was glad that her team got what they wanted, but Captain Edwards–oh man, he got hella' pissed when he found out that the Black Ops have some way to counter the effects of that alien mind control. Special training and an implant of some kind that cancels out the psionics, I think." Neil shrugged, then chuckled a little.
Jane cocked her head. "What's so funny?"
"When the captain asked Broderick why she wasn't up front about that little secret, she looked him dead in the eye and said, 'You didn't ask.' It would've gotten really ugly if you-know-who hadn't intervened." He held up three fingers and ticked off two. "Three guesses and the first two don't count."
Her mouth lifted into a half-smile. "The sarge, right? Is he okay?"
"'Okay?' Oh, you mean after that little love-tap you gave him? I think he forgives you, although you did raise a bit of a shiner on his jaw. Said maybe you should bat for the local softball team." Neil laughed outright. "As for the captain, I don't think anyone has ever snapped at him like that. Well, correction, Dr. Ross, probably. His face got so red I thought he was going to blow his teeth right out of his mouth." Abruptly his typically impish look faded and Jane stared at him; Neil very rarely wore such a serious expression.
"Jane? What was it like? You know…" His gray eyes searched her brown ones so intently that she had to avert her gaze. She was silent for a moment, then: "I felt…used. Violated." Her fists clenched in helpless fury and her voice, though quiet, was bitter. "It's a rape of the mind. It made me feel weak and vulnerable and I hated that. I hated it with a fucking passion." She suddenly smacked a palm against her leg. "Why the hell am I telling you all this?!" she snapped, eyes flashing. Right now all she wanted to do was shoo Neil out the door, wash down some aspirin with a huge glass of water and get some more shut-eye. However, the prospect of trekking across the cold linoleum of her kitchen floor wasn't appealing. She lay back down, wrapped herself up in her covers and shut her eyes. She heard him get up and push his chair back. "I guess that now Eri is gloating about saving my ass, right?"
"Actually, she said she hopes that you're okay."
One eye opened and fastened on him. "Bullshit."
"No, she really said it." A pause. "So, you need anything, Jane?"
She almost asked him to fetch the aspirin and water but decided to deal with the pain, which was starting to subside now. "I'm fine, Neil. I'm going back to sleep" Her eye closed.
He got a little closer. "You sure?"
"I said I'm fine. Now please, go before you're late and piss off the Major. And don't slam my door on the way out."
"Okay. See ya' later." His footsteps receded, stopped, then returned and before Jane could do anything he leaned over and gave her a little peck on the mouth. Jane surprised both of them by accepting it; deep down she was glad that he had stopped by, but the stubborn old Proudfoot pride demanded that she show two degrees of indifference. His tread withdrew again. Jane killed the light and was just starting to relax when the door slammed shut. "Dammit, Neil!" she groaned and yanked the pillow over her head.
Gray locked the car door, tugging the collar of his coat a little tighter and shoving his hands into his pockets as he slipped between a couple of parked vehicles. A cool breeze made him glance up at the sky. Almost invisible in the dusk, a line of towering cumulous clouds sent down forks of lightning on the near horizon and thunder grumbled faintly. Another Texas thunderstorm was brewing and heading this way. He grunted, entered the main doors of the research facilities and placed a palm on the security plate in the lobby. The receptionist checked the results and pointed him to the nearest elevator. He thanked her as genially as he could and entered, but inside he was still mulling over his talk with Broderick. He jabbed the down button a little harder than he meant to; Gray still hadn't cooled down completely despite Ryan's assurances that what had happened was both unforeseen and unfortunate. Maybe he'd been a little harsh with the Black Ops captain, but that wasn't the point…he could have easily lost his friend and second in command, possibly Jane, and God only knew what else could have happened had it not been for Harper's timely intervention. Was it his fault that he cared so much for his team, especially all that they had gone through over a year ago? X-COM was supposed to work together with them, and this meant sharing everything in order to defeat these newest aliens; withholding pertinent information would only result in delays. In his opinion Cheyenne had almost compromised the effectiveness of the Deep Eyes as a cohesive fighting unit.
The elevator paused for a pickup two floors before his destination and he frowned, but when the doors opened and the passenger entered his scowl vanished and he saluted. "Good evening, major!"
"Good evening, captain. How is the corporal?"
"She's resting in her quarters, doctor's orders. But I plan to keep her informed on whatever it is that Dr. Sid has in store for us." Hopefully Aki will still be there too. But it would be just like her to work nonstop and make Sid send her home. She's a workaholic, I swear.
"General Tobias is in a meeting, so he sent me to see what the excitement is about." Schaeffer jabbed a button, smiled and cocked her hazel gaze at him. It was odd, Gray noticed, that her smile sometimes didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. "Dr. Sid sounded very animated."
Any further discussion was interrupted as a chime sounded just then. The elevator car stopped and the doors opened onto a subterranean corridor lit at intervals by hidden ceiling lights. Large windows allowed views into some of the non-critical workspaces. The illumination level was kept low so that the technicians, working with light-sensitive holographic equipment, would not be distracted. But the hour was late and there were very few techs to be seen. The two walked down the hall, shoes echoing on the hard floor, to the underground lab where Dr. Sid had bade them report to. They approached another door.
"Allow me." The major had her security pass out and swiped it through the reader on the wall. A beep later and this door opened as well. They strode a few more paces, then turned a corner and just past a single guard, who saluted, was a small group of familiar faces. The entire X-COM squad was present (Cheyenne stood with arms crossed, regarding Gray with a deadpan expression); Ryan and Neil were also here–the sergeant every now and then tenderly touched the left side of his jaw, where a discoloring was still evident even after Aki had used the bioetheric epidermal healer. Aki herself was nowhere to be seen.
Dressed in his lab whites, Dr. Sid was engaged in conversation with Lanier. Upon noticing the new arrivals, he interrupted himself and turned, his bearing upbeat. "Good, now that the major and the captain are here, I'll get right to it." Beneath his wizened lids his eyes sparkled. "Everyone, we've successfully stopped the breakdown of the Elerium!"
A buzz ran through the others, and Broderick couldn't keep surprise from crossing her features. "How was it accomplished?"
"I'll show you. This way, please." The door behind him whooshed open and they were swept into the lab. Once inside they saw that equipment of all sorts had been arranged around a central containment chamber. Slender cables connected it to a few consoles and a couple of techs floated around in the dim background. Aki stepped from behind the chamber's curve, a PDA in one hand, and her eyes caught Gray's for a moment before glancing at her small readout. The pale blues, greens and yellows of the active holographic displays paled before the brilliance of the orb still floating within behind the invisible containment field.
Hughes peered at it. "What in God's name..?" he muttered. Like his fellow teammates, he had a basic understanding of Elerium-115, but this stuff looked…well, different. The amber globe was shot through with discharges of electric blue that flickered over and through it like miniature lightning. Aki explained what they were looking at.
"The original sample was rapidly decaying...its power output was dropping and we were at a loss at how to stop it. What complicates things is the fact that Elerium shifts phase, regularly cycling between inert and organic states. I've seen nothing like it." She shook her head in perplexity. "It's a mystery to me, but at least we were able to stabilize it and halt the deterioration."
Lanier and Hughes gave each other a high-five and Broderick did a double take. Elerium is half-alive? This was news to her. Nevertheless the captain held her questions and listened. Even Major Schaeffer looked attentive as the younger scientist continued.
"We exposed the damaged Elerium to a duplicate of the Gaia wave. Now, here's where things really get strange. The wave somehow mutated when it fused with the damaged material, reversing the breakdown and began to restore it. I'm still collating data, so I haven't come up with the exact details yet." She tapped the end of a slender finger against her chin, thoughtfully.
"How about the Elerium we got from the scout?" Tyler asked. He indicated the massive armored door that led to a controlled-access vault. Within rested the alien mineral that they had put their necks on the line to get. "What shape is that in?"
Aki sighed. "That was checked as well, and unfortunately, it too is showing some signs of deterioration."
"Aw, man. All of it?"
She raised her eyes and met Atwood's dark blue ones, which looked almost indigo in the room's low light. "All of it," she replied firmly.
"But," Schaeffer said, "at least we have it, and that's more than we can say compared to before. Besides, can't it be recharged too?"
Dr. Sid smiled. "Yes, it can" he said. But his face became serious. "But there is one caveat. The 'recharged' Elerium only has a maximum efficiency of eighty-seven percent. We separated a smaller sample from the main mass, and when we attempted to obtain a higher energy output, it broke down completely. There was no chance of restoration after that." He felt Aki's gaze on him…there was another negative consequence. When the Gaia waveform came in contact with Elerium, it had become irreversibly altered and had dissipated.
"I knew it was too good to be true. Damn." Broderick muttered. Then, louder: "But our thanks to both of you."
Lanier clasped his hands behind his back. He appeared deep in thought and he turned to the scientists. "Before we break out the bubbly, I'd like to see the power signature."
Aki raised an eyebrow inquiringly but called up a display anyway, and the air above the console brightened with a hologram. A 3D portrayal of the output rolled sinuously across a grid background.
Matt poked a finger at the graph and looked inquiringly at Aki, and at her prompting he touched it. He registered the contact as a not-unpleasant sensation– it felt like very slick plastic. An icon formed at the interface, and he began to trace the Elerium's power curve, noting the minor peaks and valleys and where they fell against the background. "Hmmm…"
"What do you mean, 'Hmmm?'" Harper said. "Not good, is it?"
"Seeing as where the phasing begins to decay, this Elerium hybrid won't give us anywhere near enough power for hyperspace travel."
The look on Cheyenne's face was one of keen disappointment, and Aki's heart went out to the captain. Given the circumstances, though, this was the best they could do. Matt ran a hand through his brown hair and tried to allay his captain's concerns. "Look, we have enough power for the engines, and should be able to get the phase cannon working again. Our shields too, and maybe the cloaking generator for brief amounts of time. Those are good things. But the fusion balls…that would required an orbital refinery, for starters. And as for achieving escape velocity? Forget it. We'd be lucky to achieve low orbit." He looked at Aki and Sid. "No disrespect, doctors."
Broderick took a deep breath, held it as she counted to three and slowly exhaled. She placed her hands carefully on the panel of the containment chamber, leaned forward and scrutinized what was floating before her. So, although things weren't quite as rosy as she had hoped, the bottom line was that they at least had a fairly reliable source of power for their ships, heavy weaponry and personal arms, and just as important, they still had allies by their side. And, the data Hughes had downloaded from the scout's computer before it self-destructed had been submitted to the two scientists and the small team of researchers they oversaw. The next objective, locating the mothership, still remained…surely the aliens had to have landed somewhere; it wasn't as if they were on a world tour. Suddenly she gasped and smacked a hand against her forehead as her green eyes widened. "Crap! Of course! If only we had–"
Unexpectedly, it was soft-spoken Atwood who was on her wavelength. "A purer supply of Elerium?" The young pilot and his commanding officer locked gazes with complete understanding and spoke at the same time. "The mothership!"
Gray looked from one to the other. "But how are we going to locate it? Ah, I see." He nodded, catching on. Certainly the aliens' Elerium supply was 'contaminated' by the jump as well, but seeing as how there must be so much more of it aboard that huge craft, the odds of the quantity being more 'pure' than the relatively meager amount that the Black Ops had, was much greater. And maybe, once detection equipment was re-tuned, they would find it. Broderick and Lanier rounded on Dr. Sid and Aki and began to chatter excitedly.
Schaeffer raised her voice. "Captain…Captain Broderick, let's settle down a moment, shall we? Thank you. Now, what is it you need to do next, and how can we assist?"
Cheyenne glanced at a wall clock, caught her lower lip between her teeth and marshaled her thoughts. Even with the not-quite-cheery news regarding their craft, if they could make a lightning raid on the mothership–once it was found–they could obtain the higher-quality Elerium, which could lead to fully operational ships. Then, with the aid of the Deep Eyes, the aliens could be defeated in an all-out assault. But two more things occurred to her at the same time. One, they were all on the clock. The enemy could launch a terror raid, anywhere and at anytime, and second…they still had to find a way to get home. Cheyenne didn't think that Gray had a clue of the pressure she was under.
"Lanier!" she said suddenly. "You, Atwood and Hughes head down to the ships and bring the rest of the Elerium up here. Take the corporal with you. We need both craft ready to deploy on a moments' notice. Doctor Ross, what's the decay factor of the untreated Elerium? I mean, must the restoration process be done as soon as possible, or–"
"We can stabilize it for at least twelve hours, using the stasis equipment here in the lab."
"Excellent."
Gray looked on as the X-COM captain took the reins and began to organize a game plan. He knew exactly how doling out orders felt, and so did Ryan because he was standing with his arms crossed and looking amused. That is, until a pair of green eyes locked onto him and marked him for duty. "Sergeant, what's the status of our suits and weapons?"
"All secured in our armory, ma'am."
"Good, good. Harper, at oh-six-hundred I want you and the sergeant to get our stuff and bring it here to the lab."
Eri pouted. "Six in the morning? That sucks." Instantly, Broderick turned that glittering authoritative gaze on her. "We don't know how long the Elerium restoration will take. You have something else you'd rather do, Harper?"
Actually, she did but she wasn't about to tell her captain. Earlier, she overheard a pair of USMF soldiers (and good-looking guys they were, too!) mention a place called "Underground" Eri suppressed her usually flirty nature–for her a remarkable accomplishment indeed–and followed them soundlessly, eavesdropping all the while. They were speaking in the low, unmistakable undertones of something that was frowned upon by the higher-ups, and she visualized the place as a sleazy hole-in-the-wall where you gambled, drank and proceeded to back up your shit talking in the nearest alley. She had planned to do a little snooping this evening and find out if it really existed. But now, anyway, she had to defer. "No, captain," she mumbled sulkily.
"That's what I thought. I suggest you get a good nights' sleep, 'cause we'll be up before dawn." Before she could continue, however, Lanier pulled her aside and said something, softly. She listened and nodded quickly. "No, I haven't forgotten. Meanwhile, get a move on."
"Aye-aye, cap'n!" He grinned and gave a snappy salute. "Neil, we'll need some wheels again."
"You got it." Neil led the way out, once again oblivious to the fact that Eri was undressing him with her eyes. As the four men left the room Cheyenne spoke briskly to the two scientists. "I need to speak with you about your medical procedures. Brain scans, in particular."
Dr. Sid's eyebrows flew up and Aki blinked. "Brain scans? Whatever for? Is Harper suffering from any ill effects?" Could Eri's concussion have been more serious that she first thought?
"No, no, nothing like that at all." The tall Black Ops captain looked at Gray and the others. "It's just a little something that I have in mind. Quite literally, in fact."
The trip to the subterranean storage facilities was a bit more sedate this time, what with Neil driving. They parked outside the smaller door, which he unlocked, and entered. The X-COM ships were still there, not having budged a millimeter since they initially arrived. Atwood and Hughes immediately went over to the smaller ship, unlocked a service panel and withdrew a compact pallet. Contained within was a complete set of field tools, and they began going about pulling the Super Avenger's Elerium pods.
Lanier looked on with approval, then leveled a measuring look at the sole Deep Eye. "I hear you're quite the tech," he said, and Neil smiled nervously. Someone must have blabbed–probably the captain–and he didn't want his reputation to precede him, at least not now. "Uh, I…thanks, I guess." He started to follow Matt as the latter strode towards the other ship.
"Confess, Neil. You've been itching to see inside the Black Phantom, haven't you? Don't try and fool me!"
"Gotta' say she's pretty impressive," he admitted. The engineering of both ships far outstripped the wildest projects that the military eggheads could have ever dreamed up...space travel, anti-gravity, fancy weaponry, the works. And seeing them in action had blown his mind. Too bad the USMF didn't have any anything like this during the Phantom Wars...the technology could have well turned the tide much earlier.
The two stopped before the rear access hatchway and Lanier looked at Neil sidelong. "I'll cut you a deal, my friend…once we get all the Elerium safely up to the lab, I'll give you a little tour of the ship. Any question's you have, ask away. Within reason, that is. How's that sound?"
Neil gaped, then grinned so wide that it was a minor miracle the entire top of his head didn't topple off. The X-COM pilot laughed aloud before pulling out his device that disabled the craft's security systems. He coolly aimed it at the ship and was about to trigger it when he abruptly lowered it and peered at the hatch. His dark brown eyes had narrowed and his lips compressed into a tight line. The man's mood had changed, just like that, and as Neil followed Lanier's gaze upwards at the pair of surveillance cameras near the ceiling he got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was amiss here. "Was it something I said?"
"Neil," he said, eyes taking in the huge space that was the storage facility. "Tell me that other than the way we just entered, and the main door, that there is no other access to this area?" He formed his statement as a question.
"Well, yeah. I mean, no. Without triggering the alarms and being caught on camera, it would be impossible. This place is like a vault. Why?"
Matt slipped his device back into a pocket, and activated his wrist com unit, ensuring that the channel was secure. "Captain? Lanier here. We have a problem."
